By Joe Haggerty
CSNNE.com Bruins InsiderFollow @hackswithhaggs
BOSTON -- The good news that Marc Savard would see his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup along with the rest of the 2010-11 Boston Bruins was overwhelmingly positive.
But, like most instances of good news, it was tempered by the flip side of that same equation. While Savard and his courageous efforts to play last season through the aftereffects of a hellacious concussion were recognized along with his contributions toward making the Bruins a Cup-worthy organization, several Bruins that made sizable contributions to last seasons club were not.
Rookie defensemen Steve Kampfer and veteran blueliner Shane Hnidy did not get their names chiseled on the Cup along with the rest of their Bs teammates. Both players got their individual days with the Cup this summer, and both will get championship rings from the Bruins. But both also fell short of the league requirements for getting on the Cup, with Hnidy only appearing in three regular-season contests at the end of the year before playing in two postseason games.
Kampfer came up agonizingly short after appearing in 38 regular-season games for the Bruins, and didnt qualify under either Cup criteria: A minimum 41 regular-season games played, or an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kampfer said that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli informed him last week about the leagues final decision on the Cup names, and the young defensemen took it reasonably well. Kampfer had to know he might not get the leagues blessing given his standing as an NHL newcomer, and he was able to enjoy all of the other spoils that come along with being a Stanley Cup champ.
Peter talked to me the other day and we talked about some of the reasons why my name wasnt on there, said Kampfer. Obviously being my first year I didnt have a background to establish myself in the league, and the NHL has a new policy when it comes to that.
Im happy that I was a part of the team for three-quarters of the year, even if I came up three games short. Ill always be linked with the team because I was there and I was the next defensemen to go in. I cant really change it. But it gives you that hunger to go win it again and make sure your name is on it the next time around.
Boston Bruins
Several pictures surfaced over the last week that displayed the new Bruins team inscription on the famed hockey chalice, and it included Savards name along with Patrice Bergeron opting for his fully hyphenated name of Patrice Bergeron-Cleary honoring both of his parents.
Surely Kampfer would have loved to honor his family and his own hockey career by having his name scrawled on the Cup alongside the 22 Bs teammates that are just beginning a 60-year stretch of inscription on the Cup. But Kampfer is also 23 years old, and well aware hes got a lifetime to once again ascend the NHL mountaintop.
I was ecstatic to be a part of it and glad that we were the Stanley Cup champs, said Kampfer. I think that Im hungrier now, but I dont think that changes things at all. If you asked anybody in this room if theyre hungry to win again, theyll say, 'Absolutely', because its the pinnacle of hockey. You cant get any better than that.
One thing would be better than that the next time: Kampfer getting his name immortalized on the Cup along with his Black and Gold teammates.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs.